Interactive gaming has become ubiquitous among digital communication devices. The reduction in size and cost of wireless communications devices, as well as reduction in cost of processors and memory, have enabled mobile wireless devices to exceed the capabilities of large computers of years past. It is well known that wireless devices such as telephones, email devices, and PDA's have been enabled for wireless communication with Internet protocol backbone networks by way of protocols such as the several forms of IEEE 802.11.
Other local wireless protocols are in widespread use. Bluetooth-enabled devices communicate to determine whether they may share data or whether one needs to control the other. The connection and communication process is performed automatically. Once a conversation between the devices has occurred, the devices form a network. Such automatic connection and communication systems create a Personal-Area Networks (PAN). Other wireless standards that may be used include IRDA, hiperlan/2, and HomeRF. When a PAN is established, such as between one VoIP or Bluetooth mobile phone and another, the members of the PAN can communicate directly. The more generally preferred mode of operation for such a mobile telephone is connection to a local access point, whereby the user can contact any source available to the Internet for conversation or gaming.
In a local area network communication, the access point transmits information separately to each local wireless device. An advantage to using a point-to-point communication is that different information (e.g., customization) may be sent to each wireless device. Even if the same information is being sent to several recipients (e.g., ensuring uniformity of a game's state for all local users coordinated by a remote server), however, in a point-to-point communication with multiple recipients, the information is transmitted redundantly to each recipient. However, an access point, comprising a wireless communication module and access point server which connects to an IP network, game state information may be transmitted, daisy chain, along point-to-point communications from an access point within range of only one wireless device, thereby extending the effective communication range of the access point.
The addition of 802.11 Wireless LAN (WLAN) capability to wireless devices enabled mobility. Interactive games where several players interact based on a physical location have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,932,698. That patent describes a system requiring the sophisticated hardware and software of a GPS locator, which necessarily reduces the size and increases the cost of a game playing wireless device.
Some mobile wireless devices are capable of sensing signal strength of a wireless communication target. The IEEE 802.11 standard defines a mechanism for measurement of RF energy by a wireless NIC. This numeric value is an integer with an allowable range of 0-255 (a 1-byte value) called the Receive Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI). RSSI is an arbitrary integer value, defined in the 802.11 standard and intended for use, internally, by the microcode on the adapter and by the device driver. For example, when an adapter wants to transmit a packet, it must be able to detect whether or not the channel is clear (i.e., nobody else is transmitting). When a 802.11 wireless device is in communication with an access point and is roaming, there comes a point when the signal level received from the access point drops to a somewhat low value (because the device is moving away from the access point). This level is called the “Roaming Threshold” and some intermediate (but low) RSSI value is associated with it. Such information is sensed and stored for use by a device control program for the wireless device. It is thus well known to provide a wireless device with information concerning receiving signal strength of another wireless device, an access point, or some other intended source of wireless signals.
There is a need for a first mobile wireless device enabled for game play to detect and use the inference of proximity to a second wireless device, access point or other source (target source) by way of receiving signal strength (or its equivalent) from the source as an integral element of game play for a game.